Take Me to Your Leader

Kicking off with a guitar-driven, lyrically foreshortened remake of their 1977 classic, “Spirit of the Age,” the members of Hawkwind confirm their ongoing evolution as the architects of space rock, a genre of music the band began pioneering in the late 1960s. Fueled by a science-fiction aesthetic that evokes simultaneously the vastness of intergalactic space, the pulsating infinity of subatomic, electromagnetic energy, and the sheer goofiness of being a puny mortal entity embedded in eternity, Hawkwind crafts sonic scenarios that are the musical equivalent of a Silver Surfer comic book. And yet the band bases its cosmic themes in current events, as evidenced by bassist Alan Davey’s blazing “Greenback Massacre,” which references the current oil war, and drummer Richard Chadwick’s “Digital Nation,” which explores the quasi-magical nature of interactive Internet gaming. Band founder Dave Brock’s title track is an intriguing collage of rave-ish beats, ambient electronic waves of sound and ominous sci-fi narration. “Angela Android,” featuring guest vocalist Lene Lovich, is a trippy, if somewhat tongue-in-robotic-cheek, rocker. Stoney stuff for sci-fi lovers.